Projects

The ContextThe city council of Vilvoorde signed the Covenant of Mayors agreement with the European commission in 2014 with the intention to reduce its CO2 emissions with 20% by 2020. In the long run, its goal is to become climate neutral.

The ChallengeVilvoorde asked Futureproofed to calculate its emissions and to develop a realistic roadmap to achieve the 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 compared to 2011, while meeting the requirements of the Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP) of the Covenant of Mayors.

The TrajectoryAt first, a quantitative study was realised to analyse the baseline CO2 emissions of Vilvoorde in 2011. Futureproofed then modelled the evolution of these emissions in time and elaborated a global vision and strategy on both the medium- and long-term, i.e. for the years 2030 and 2050. This enabled the city to use the correct focus for their action plan.The plan is based on cost-benefit calculations of 36 CO2 reduction opportunities. In fact, this calculation highlighted that 4 sectors (households, trade & services, mobility and energy) will be able to decrease the global emissions by 18% thanks to 14 different measures.Futureproofed also organised and supported the participation process leading to insight and involvement of different stakeholders.

Results and ResolutionsThe climate action plan was a first substantial step to identify the challenges linked to Vilvoorde’s climate neutral goal.After these analyses, it was clear that the road is still long before becoming climate neutral and that various solutions are needed to reach this goal. Therefore, Vilvoorde chose to continue to work with Futureproofed who supports and coaches them on their way to zero-emission (see Coaching Vilvoorde).

Vilvoorde believes in the potential of the Covenant of Mayors to reduce our impact whilst helping our citizens to lower their energy bill, live in more comfortable houses and enjoy being in their city. We are one of the cities that chose to use an external partner to develop our SEAP roadmap. We really see the difference in the progress of this project and the quality of our SEAP roadmap. Futureproofed helped us developing a vision on sustainability together with our citizens. Apart from supporting us with their expertise on the raw data and calculations, they also helped us in our communication.